The Manchester youth baseball league (MYBL) was founded in the early 1950s, and all kids ages five to 18 are allowed to play. The divisions are 6u, 8u, 10u, 12u, 15u, and 18u.
Annually, with weather permitting, there is an “opening day” in April to kick off each baseball season for ages 6u-12u. Considering 15u and 18u’s season does not start until mid May. This year’s opening day was April 6, 2024.
The opening day consists of a parade of all the teams in the league at 9 a.m. The parade procedure is that the teams stand in line and travel from the middle of Manchester’s square down to Fred Deadman Park in a parade. All of the teams are lined up alphabetically and from the youngest divisions (6u) to the oldest division (12u). Once the teams arrive at the park, the Manchester Youth Baseball League’s board members announce each team name, and they all line the inside of the Aaron Miller field at the park.
After the parade, a volunteer sings the National anthem, and the baseball board president announces the fundraiser winners along with a speech to open the year. The National Anthem was sung by an exceptional singer, Allison Monahan, who is 13. Returning president, Eric West, gave the opening speech.
Then, the fundraiser winners were announced, to which raised the most money and they received a cash payment award. Each year there is a different fundraiser, but they alternate between sundrop sales, donut sales, and raffle tickets.
This year, raffle tickets were sold and there were two winners. Furthermore, two new fundraisers were also introduced this year. The first fundraiser was a hit-a-thon. In a hit-a-thon, a sponsor can buy a certain amount of balls/pitches and for every hit a kid gets, the amount paid is raised. Each ball was $5.
The second fundraiser was a homerun derby. Each volunteer for the derby had to be an oncoming team member and they received 10 pitches, and the winner took home a trophy prize and $300. The winner of course had the most home runs.
The winners of the raffles included: first place, Megan and Cameron Holloway who received $1,500, and second place, Mr.Sherber and he received $500. The winner of the inaugural MYBL Home Run Derby was Trey Stevens with a total of four home runs.
Overall, the league has been around for nearly 75 years, and still puts the enjoyment of the youth first. That said, along with many others, the 2024 MYBL opening day was both a beautiful and successful day for board members and league participants.
